The brother remembered everything; the minutest details of torture inflicted on his sister's frail body. A forensic surgeon then counted the wounds, the scars and the scalds. He traced it, one by one, to acts of unspeakable cruelty on a 6-year-old girl by her father and stepmother. 

It was their statements which were crucial to the High Court's conviction for murder in the death of Adhithi S Namboodiri in 2013. The HC set aside the acquittal for murder earlier ordered by the trial court and sentenced Adhithi's father, Subramaniam Namboodiri and his second wife, Ramla Begum (Devika Antharjanam), to life imprisonment and slapped a fine of ₹2,00,000 on Thursday. 

The couple had got away with charges of murder after the Additional Sessions Judge-1, Kozhikode, ruled in 2016 that the accused had no intention to cause the death of their minor child. The HC bench comprising Raja Vijayaraghavan and K V Jayakumar termed the conclusion of the trial court perverse. 

The HC considered the unmistakable medical evidence that proved brutal, sustained acts of cruelty. Dr Prajith TM, who was then the Assistant Professor of Forensic Medicine, Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, recorded every single blow the child would have endured in horrible pain.

There were 19 injuries in total, nine of them were 3-4 weeks old, four were recent, and the last of the wounds snuffed the life out of her.  For every injury, Arun S Namboodiri, her brother, recounted, Dr Prajith drew out a prolonged pattern of brutality and wrote in detail what caused each wound on her frail, famished body. 

"We seldom get emotional performing autopsies. Looking at this child's body was shattering. We kept asking ourselves, how did she bear with this pain? I was heartbroken when the murder charges were set aside earlier, because the medical evidence was strong. Now, when the HC set it aside, I think, justice was served for that girl," Dr Prajith, who is now the Professor & Head, Forensic Medicine, Kannur Medical College, told Onmanorama.

 From head to feet, the tiny body was riddled with scars. She was beaten, kicked, her arm fractured, hot liquid forcefully poured into her mouth and private parts. Along with Dr Prajith, the autopsy was performed by Dr Shirley Vasu and Dr Priyatha P. They examined a pale-faced little girl with sunken eyes, flattened cheeks and poorly nourished body. There were infections from scalding all over the body. Ribs and bones stood out, signs of extreme starvation.

"If it were a single stab wound, one would die immediately. We couldn't stop thinkingabout  how much pain the girl would have gone through," said Dr Prajith. Nail marks on her body proved she was restrained while being subjected to scalding, beating and kicking. The autopsy proved that the fatal injury was caused by a wooden reaper. The nail ends were caked with dirt, her hands were calloused, which showed she was put through manual labour. 

The couple had covered the compound with sarees and would unleash three dogs to keep neighbours at bay. The court concluded that multiple small scars across her body and other injuries were consistent with repeated physical abuse. The girl died of neurogenic shock due to pain caused by blunt trauma. Dr Prajith said this was only a mechanism of death, the actual cause was the torture that lasted ten months.

Public prosecutor Advocate Neema T V said that accurate details recounted by the brother, coupled with the medical evidence, were vital. "Given the nature of torture, one can conclude that they wanted to get rid of the children. There can't be any other motive or reason for putting a child through such pain," she said. 

Arun, who stays with his grandmother, has now completed his graduation, said Advocate Neema. Ramesh Kurup, a former journalist with an English daily, who is one of the witnesses in the case, had given his statement about the girl being taken to the hospital and a previous instance when he saw her getting beaten by her father. "I told the court what I saw, what happened was quite disturbing. I had seen her brother during the trial. I never heard from him again," said Kurup.